At this point is the USA prepared for anything?
this post was submitted on 25 May 2024
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If an 18th century army ever tries to invade the country again, the US is well prepared thanks to the second amendment.
Nah, the army would win. We have a bunch of individuals with firearms that practice using them on the range or maybe hunting. That's a far cry from opposing an actual military. Sure the tech outpaces the army's but most people are just going to hide in their houses. The rest will be seen coming and when martial law is enacted and they go house to house seizing guns, it'll be over. It's not like they can't learn how to use modern weaponry. Most people vastly underestimate discipline and organization.
This assumes there is no modern military for this premise.
For the first few battles.
After that the survivors will figure out how to fight an insurgency
We’re prepared to give up the pretense of democracy.
It seems like people are just ready to give up on civilization. Return to monke, I guess. Perhaps A.I. will go to the stars in our stead.
And Elon Musk will take it there! (TM) In his own head at least, and the minds of anyone gullible enough to fund it, if only those darn spaceships would stop blowing up and work right - maybe he should have paid his workers perhaps?:-P
The exploding spaceships isn't really a problem. That's kind of the intention of the testing process. The way NASA does things, where everything is meticulously tested and nothing can fail ever, works, but it's slower and more expensive. Destructive testing is faster, and has the benefit of possibly revealing failure modes you didn't forsee.
I mean... explosive testing sounds even more expensive though, bc you cannot reuse the same components? Also, where does the need to do a rush job come in - if something takes a decade, then what's so bad about waiting a decade? The point about total cost is well taken though.
We probably will agree that each have their merits, and a little bit of both could actually go a long way - like a fast-moving alpha stage vs. a more stable beta model.
Unfortunately from everything I've read (admittedly not much) I thought the US government has gone virtually all-in on the Musk train, with little funding leftover for additional models. Then again, space isn't really a prioritization at all right now, compared to e.g. Ukraine, Gaza, Climate Change, infrastructure, inflation, etc., so that too makes some amount of sense.
At this point the remaining shredded tatters of democracy are necessary but insufficient to dealing with the challenges we currently face. Though e.g. Germany seems to be doing quite well, so it may be the particular implementation of rather than the entire theory of democracy that has gone off the rails.
for war, probably
Not if it involves knowledge or information, in addition to it rather than physical weapons only:-(.
Always prepared to support and send money to israel
Sadly, I cannot refute this. Especially if you add "so long as oil profits are still possible".
Not much if anything at all. We have to keep us safe now.
That was the big takeaway I got from COVID.
No one's going to protect me from other people's carelessness but me.
Also if there every really is an apocalypse, I don't want to live through it. :D
Oh fuck. Let’s hoard diapers, toilet papers, hand sanitizers, motor oil, and bleach flavored kool aid.
Also, we need to call it a plandemic, lie through our teeth, declare trillions of dollars worth of handouts for handful of ultra wealthy and oppose any relief for people who are vulnerable. Oh and oppose any research on cure - scratch that - investigate anyone talking sense and trying to find cure and call them traitors and foreign agents. In fact we need to ban the face diapers (except those majestic pointy hoods, of course). And one fine day in a week or so declare pandemic is all over.
Did we miss anything to get ready for H5N1?
Don't forget your Lysol syringes and your tremendously bright light.
Yeah don't forget the pox parties where people try and build natural immunity by making their sick kids cough at each other
Let’s hoard diapers
But then what will Trump wear?
Win... by any means necessary.
i.e., the polar opposite of peaceful coexistence and brotherhood - using violence to achieve an aim that they consider worthwhile. Didn't more people die from the last pandemic than all wars combined? Sounds like an "opportunity" for political spin doctoring, according to some people, who would like ~~for the wealthy to pay even less taxes than now~~ moar power.
USA unprepared for a pandemic, period. It's why I've stayed stocked up on PPE.
Wise of you, very wise.
One can only look at the kind of monumental carelessness and stupidity shown by Americans once and conclude that it's best to stay prepared.
And I live in Missouri, the epicenter of the Delta variant, so I know people here are extra careless.
By PPE, I assume you mean TP? Shit tickets, if I may?
What a time for me to be prescribed an immunosuppressant.
Seriously. I'm sitting here twitching from my first course of Prednisone and then this article pops up. Thanks for the shitty genes, Mom.
Good luck and Godspeed. Please take care of yourself.
Thank you. I also own a flock of ducks, so I'm in a predicament. If a single bird of mine displays symptoms, I am prepared to take out the entire flock. It would be absolutely devastating to me, but I can't risk it. I do everything I can to keep my flock healthy and protected. Hopefully H5N1 doesn't spread to woodland critters, because I can't keep those out of my property at night. Deer, possums, and a gang of 3 raccoons come into my yard every night to hang out
Good. Let's go, round two baby, ride this wave all the way to the bottom
The USA is high on its own supply of "superiority" guns cant kill bacteria or viruses.
There was a not insignificant number of people that thought you could shoot at a hurricane to make it go away.
The Republicans are going to do their very best to kill as many people as possible again.
I'm just waiting for Captain Trips.